Explore how Baker Group expanded its detailing capacity with a crew of union-trained ICON-BIM detailers and stopped letting BIM resources determine which jobs to bid.
Baker Group had the reputation and field crews to take on more work. However, limited detailing capacity began influencing which projects the company could realistically pursue. Developing qualified internal detailing resources also took years, making hiring alone an impractical response to immediate project demand.
As a result, the company brought in ICON-BIM, a 100% U.S.-based, all-union BIM provider whose detailers are card-carrying plumbers, pipefitters, and sheet metal workers. ICON-BIM supplied lead-level trade talent and took ownership of complete scopes across hyperscale data centers, food-grade, and industrial projects.
Baker Group’s most experienced BIM people were already among its scarcest resources. There was no hiring hall or bench of experienced candidates ready to step into active projects.
The first option was to move experienced tradespeople from the field into detailing. Their installation knowledge gave them a strong foundation, but the move removed skilled workers from active job sites and still required a significant period of detailing and software training.
The second option was to hire candidates with BIM or CAD experience. They could operate the software but did not necessarily understand the installation logic behind what they were modeling.
That problem became more pronounced during periods of high demand. A growing backlog increased the need for detailing capacity while making it harder to remove experienced tradespeople from active job sites.
For Baker Group, BIM and detailing resources were a standing consideration when evaluating new opportunities.
When the internal team could not support the drawing and coordination workload, the company sometimes chose not to pursue the project.
“We sometimes would have to walk away from work if we knew we just flat out couldn’t draw it. Having that additional resource, the help from the ICON-BIM team, has been pretty valuable in that we’re able to chase more work, knowing you guys would be there to support us.”
— Nick Lause, Industrial Project Manager, Baker Group
The contractor needed additional capacity, but simply adding outside resources was not enough. Those resources had to understand how MEP systems are built, work with limited supervision, and deliver work that did not create another review burden for the internal team.
By the time Baker Group began working with ICON-BIM, its team had a clearer understanding of what it needed from an external detailing partner:
The detailing team’s size and trade experience stood out to the contractor. These qualities also addressed problems it had encountered in an earlier external relationship, including unclear expectations, limited access to assigned resources, and repeated back-and-forth.
ICON-BIM did not drop modelers into a queue. ICON-BIM’s trade lead ran the crew day to day and worked shoulder to shoulder with Baker Group’s own leads to set priorities, participate in coordination meetings, resolve issues directly with the field, and shift people between scopes as schedules changed. Baker Group handed over objectives, not task lists.
“You guys are lead resources that we can just turn over a bunch of objectives to, and you get them done. We don’t have to sit there and babysit you guys all day. That’s one of the biggest reliefs we’ve had.”
— Cord Deakman, Baker Group
By integrating ICON-BIM into its team, Baker Group added detailing capacity that could take ownership of complete project scopes, manage its own quality control, and adapt as workloads changed.
That approach produced several practical outcomes:
The additional capacity also supported the pace of Baker Group’s growing hyperscale data center work, where teams and priorities often had to shift quickly.
Rather than replacing Baker Group’s internal detailing team, ICON-BIM expanded its available capacity when project demand exceeded in-house resources.
Founded in 1963 in Des Moines, Iowa, Baker Group is one of the Midwest’s largest employee-owned, full-service specialty contractors, with more than 1,700 office staff and tradespeople across its business units, including mechanical, sheet metal, plumbing and piping, electrical, industrial, automation, security, and service. Its work spans light commercial through heavy industrial projects, including healthcare, food-grade, pharmaceutical, and hyperscale data center work.
ICON-BIM is a Seattle-headquartered, 100% U.S.-based union BIM and VDC company supporting mechanical, plumbing, piping, and sheet metal contractors nationwide. Every ICON-BIM detailer has completed a five-year union apprenticeship, and the company is signatory to agreements with more than 26 local UA and SMART unions. Deliverables include LOD 400 coordination models, fabrication-ready shop drawings, spool sheets, hanger packages, and BOM packages, all produced by tradespeople who have installed the systems they detail.
ICON-BIM does not replace a contractor’s internal detailing department; it strengthens it with union-trained trade leadership and production capacity exactly when the workload requires it. Learn how ICON-BIM's detailing services can help you scale with confidence. Let's Talk.